The Barcelona Brothers Read Online Free PDF Page B

up. Something’s not working right, Epi thinks, when the fugitive has to wait outside the girl’s door until she’s ready to soothe his bad temper with the morning’s first cup of coffee. Such things don’t happen to superheroes. Whenever they want, they just go in through the windows. They go down stairs inside burning buildings and step out into smoking alleys. Women are always waiting for them to appear, and they, of course, are guys who make women wait.
    The morning stretches and yawns, gradually waking up. Another sunny day, another good day for recovering from a cold. Indifferent to living things, the orange light is welcoming the buildings, illuminating them in such a way that they appear to Epi like new discoveries, things that weren’t there last night, and now it seems to him that the light is raising them from the ground and trying to set them on their feet. Or worse yet, that they haven’t left yet, despite all the warnings. Like dinosaur fossils, the concrete towers stay in place, and the light tries to straighten them up so they can start walking, but it isn’t possible; they remain anchored where they are, waiting for time to bury them once and for all.
    “Can I make a call on your cell phone?”
    “I’m sorry. It’s only for work.”
    “That means it’s only for making calls to your dispatcher?”
    “No. It just means it can’t be used for certain things.”
    “What things?”
    “It can’t be used by customers, for example.”
    “This is an emergency.”
    “What kind of emergency?”
    “In bars, customers can use the restrooms.”
    “What kind of emergency?”
    “Never mind.” Given the driver’s attitude, Epi changes his tone and says to her, “But at least try to drive in a straight line. That is, if your husband taught you how.”
    “Careful what you say. This is my car, and I decide who gets to ride in it.”
    “It was only a joke.”
    “Real fucking funny.”
    Things like this exasperate him. He can’t comprehend them. He doesn’t understand why people choose to be jerks, just because. But at least the discussion has been useful for something. The cab driver has begun to concentrate hard on making all the lights. Now it looks as though she wants to get to their destination more than he does. They’re very close. A few more intersections. As they drive on, they pass a
mossos
squad car, going in the opposite direction with its lights flashing but no siren. Epi figures they’re going to Salva’s bar. Then it’s as if he can hear Alex scolding him, telling him that only a moron would kill Tanveer and then immediately go to see Tiffany Brisette. And he’d be right. As usual. Incredible as it seems, Epi hadn’t thought about the police. He knows he had to do what he did, and he supposesthat’s enough. He chose the way of doing it without weighing many other options. He picked up whatever lay to hand. As to afterward, what would happen afterward, he simply hadn’t thought about it, except to envision Tiffany receiving the news. He’d pictured himself in prison, but not how or where he’d be held. He’d also imagined himself on television, handcuffed, getting into a car while one of those pigs clapped a hand on his neck and thrust his head down. Why do they always do that? Because they saw it on TV one day and they’re copying it? As far as he knows, nobody likes to whack his head against the roof of a car.
    Now that he’s on the point of seeing Tiffany, he realizes he ought to have prepared some sort of speech. Explanation’s not his forte, and, slow as he is, he’s never allowed to finish a thought. He needs to be given time, space, air. People—especially her—always keep interrupting him. But today’s different. What he has to say has only one voice and a few words: his. As though a flash has lit up his consciousness, he becomes aware that he needs to go somewhere else and think some more. He says, “Change of plans.”
    Epi gives the driver the new address.